Boulder leaders detail house-size rules

Facing a group of protesters, an earful from a divided public and criticism from two former mayors, the Boulder City Council on Tuesday night agreed on the details for new house-size regulations.

The "compatible-development" project -- in the works for more than a year now -- is aimed at keeping new development and remodels from towering over neighboring houses by introducing a new set of regulatory tools that would restrict how large a house could be built.

While the council didn't formally adopt the ordinance as a whole, the group indicated it likely would during a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tursday and agreed on most of the specifics.The delay in approving the measure is so that the city attorney has time to write the ordinance to include the council's decisions Tuesday night.

"This has been a long process; a lot of compromises have been made," City Councilwoman Lisa Morzel said.

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Among the most major agreements the council reached was that single-family homes should be able to cover up to 35 percent of a lot -- based on a standard 7,000-square-foot lot -- a decision that loosens the group's previous decision to allow only 30 percent building coverage.

The council also adopted a new tool to measure high-volume spaces. The so-called "virtual-floor model" would calculate twice the square footage for interior spaces above 16 feet tall, and triple the square footage for spaces taller than 26 feet.

Another proposal not recommended by staffers, but supported by the council early Tuesday night, is giving an extra 200-square-foot building allowance for seniors and people with disabilities.

The "aging in place" amendment, as the council called it, is designed to give residents with physical impairments extra room for hospital beds, elevators or other accommodations.

Late Tuesday night, the council also approved allowing a 0.5 ratio of finished square footage to lot size.

The council previously agreed that homes should have a "floor-area ratio" of 0.45, a difference of about 350 square feet on a 7,000-square-foot lot.

Dan and Judy Hersh place signs that represent their two homes in the lawn of the Boulder Municipal Building during a rally Tuesday evening. The group "Leave My Home Alone" gathered many of its members to protest an ordinance being discussed by the City Council that would limit house sizes.
( MARTY CAIVANO)

The last item the group took on was approving special exemptions from some rules for small lots, giving more leeway to owners of lots between 4,001 square feet and 4,600 square feet -- or narrow lots between 45 feet and 48 feet wide.

If the council passes the ordinance on second reading Thursday evening, it would still go to a third public hearing later this month or in early October -- with room for more changes. The council agreed the rules should go into effect 90 days after final approval.

But former Boulder mayors Leslie Durgin and Mark Ruzzin warned the officials this week that passing the ordinance is a bad idea.

In a guest opinion published in the Camera on Tuesday, the former leaders admonished the City Council not to act too quickly on a clunky, complex ordinance.

"We respectfully ask the council to take the time and exercise the leadership that is needed to work towards a consensus-based outcome that will be supported by a clear majority of Boulder residents," the pair wrote. "The current proposal, a hurried and confusing motion layered with amendment upon amendment upon amendment, signifies the current division within the community."

Dozens of Boulder residents showed up Tuesday to voice their concerns or support for the measure.

Leonard May, a member of the Boulder Landmarks Board, asked the City Council to act quickly to pass new rules.

"Rarely does a legislative body have an opportunity to pass an ordinance that has such wide-reaching benefits on so many levels," he said.

"Saving the city of Boulder's character is what's at stake here," she said.

Others jeered the officials, saying the ordinance would unfairly restrict homeowners who want to expand their houses even a modest amount.

"They're making it impossible for people to enjoy their property," said Paul Calcagno, one of more than a dozen members of the grass-roots opposition group "Leave My Home Alone" who gathered on the east lawn of the Boulder Municipal Building waving signs and wearing yellow T-shirts in protest.

Warren Hultquist, one of the founders of the group, said his supporters are ready to gather signatures across the city to put an issue on the November ballot asking voters to repeal any new rules that the council might pass.

"At this point, what choice do we have?" he said. "I can't add another square foot" under the proposed restrictions.

He said his group has raised about $8,000 and hired an attorney to draft potential ballot language to change the city charter so that any house-size restrictions would require voter approval.

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